Sustained Investigation #4

REFLECTION ON WORK

• I chose the materials and processes for this piece for lots of different reasons. I chose to use acrylic paint for this piece because I am most comfortable with acrylics. I also love using them and was excited to be able to use them in this piece. I am also able to blend colors quite easily with acrylics, and I needed to do a lot of that with this piece. This piece is centered around emotions, and I feel as if I was able to get that across well with acrylics. I utilized brush strokes in the background, but I would have liked maybe to use oils for the body of the chimpanzees because of how fast acrylic dries. I got a little frustrated with that aspect. I made a lot of different sketches and did a lot of research on chimpanzee anatomy before starting because I wanted you to be able to tell exactly what was happening in the painting and what the emotions were. I also chose to do this on a smaller canvas size, because in the past I have worked on a pretty large scale, and I wanted to get into the details with this one. I would not have had the time to get the look that I wanted on a large canvas. I had fun with this piece, but I think I could have started with the bodies, because by the time I had finished the face, I was slightly rushed, and a little less excited, which I believe you can see slightly in the detail-work of the body. In the end, I learned a lot but ultimately am very happy with how this came out. 

• My piece shows practice, experimentation, and revision throughout. For example, I completely changed the color of the faces of the chimpanzees. I did this after getting feedback, and I think it changed the vibe and feelings that are portrayed through the painting. I also changed the background from pink to textured orange. I liked the pink, but I don’t think it fits with the chimpanzees fully. I probably will go back in with a few strokes of pink just so that you can still get the warmer aspect from the background because I do think it harbored the affection I was trying to get across. (Again I have more to say, but not enough space!)

• This piece was super informative with my work moving forward. I loved the faces that I was able to paint and thought it was a fun process. I would love to do another piece like this in the future. For my next one, I might want to experiment with oils. I have a few oil paints and linseed oil and haven’t used them too often, but I would love to be able to use them without them drying out as quickly as acrylic, as it is starting to bug me when I have to remake colors 5 times for one piece even with the wet box. The paint just doesn’t stay a nice consistency over a few weeks, which is expected. I also really liked painting realistic animals, so while I am feeling motivated and excited for this style I would like to stay with it for the next piece. I might want to do a piece about unlikely friendships between animals, like a horse and cat, or dog and deer, etc. The fact that animals can form bonds between different species. That might be a little more dull, though, in the scheme of the facts that I have come across. Another idea could be animals recognizing themselves in mirrors. For example, dolphins and elephants, which is wild. As I think about it, I think I like that idea a lot at the moment! Maybe the composition could be from behind a dolphin or elephant looking in the mirror as they stare at themselves.